RPG Recap: Alar, 2012-03-17 and 2012-04-14
I fell behind a bit in writing up Alar recaps. Oops! Things have been very busy lately, which I should write about in a separate post.
Year 28 of the 7th Imperator, 10th of Declarations
Calliope had died in a fight outside Mariava’s house, beaten down by the unnerving guard-slaves. The rest of the gang decided it was worth trying to have her brought back to the land of the living, and that they’d seek the help of a priest of Adens, gracious host of the dead in the underworld. They asked the keeper of the Dirty Red Table who they might try asking for help, since taverners are well-acquainted with Adens’ priests, and she suggested they could seek out Mersus of the Olii – “but you won’t like him.”
They went looking for “the mighty priest” as directly, only to realize that The Mighty Priest was a bar and Mersus was a patron. They found him drunk and with a pair of prostitutes, but drove them off and told him they needed to talk business. The priest slurred his assent and led them back to a more appropriate place: his home, a tiny, filthy apartment above a nearby brothel. He said he’d be happy to help the group, but that they’d have to do something in return for Adens’ favor. He said that a patron at the luxurious Plate and Cup in the old city was overstaying his welcome, and that they’d be doing a favor to everyone if they could have him seen on his way – but that Mersus’ name should be left out of things. He wanted his kind service to the inn’s keeper to be an anonymous gift.
“You can leave your friend’s body with me,” he leered. “I’ll keep her safe.”
The gang headed to the inn and bullied their way past the doormen and up to the top floor, where they busted into the wrong room before being confronted by the angry innkeeper. He had no desire to see his guest (Donagar) kicked out, but the gang wouldn’t take no for an answer. They made it clear that the guy had to go, one way or another. The innkeeper suggested that this was a misunderstanding, and that maybe a certain priest of Adens was involved, but nothing was confirmed or denied. Finally, he agreed to evict his lodger himself. The gang waited in the kitchen, eating figs, while the deed was done.
Mission accomplished, they enjoyed a great rest at the Plate and Cup. (“Even the floors are more comfortable than our beds!”)
Year 28 of the 7th Imperator, 11th of Declarations
In the morning, they went back to Mersus’ place and said the deed was done. Mersus was relieved to reacquaint himself with the party and learn the reason he’d found a young woman’s corpse in his bed. He led everyone to a nearby temple. From the outside it looked somewhat abandoned, and it had a fair amount of dust inside, but Mersus had it cleaned and suitable for use quickly, and did not slur and stumble his way through his invocations.
Meanwhile, in the underworld…
Calliope had been standing in a queue in the underworld for quite some time, slowly approaching the gates of the city from the blasted wasteland outside its boundaries. When she finally reached the tents of the city’s bureaucrats – white-faced priests in black robes – she was taken aside for several hours to await special processing. Eventually she was told that she would be allowed to return to the land of the living, if she would agree to perform a service of Adens’ choosing at some point in the future. The priest explained that should she decline, she would find herself unwelcome in Adens’ home. Calliope didn’t have to think twice: she agreed and was led down to a small room below ground where here spirit was dispatched (by an axe stroke) back to Alar.
Calliope’s friends helped her to her feet and led her back to the Plate and Cup where they enjoyed another night’s rest (already paid for, after all), avoiding Mersus, who was already there, carousing.
Year 28 of the 7th Imperator, 12th of Declarations
Feeling more or less back to full strength, the gang went poking around the imperial offices, looking for news or work. There were some reports of a bounty on the head of an escapee from the temple of Enoriaster, but when they went to seek more information, the guard recognized them as the blasphemers involved in the theft from the lighthouse temple. They party made a break for it, escaped unharmed, and took the rest of the day off.
Year 28 of the 7th Imperator, 13th of Declarations
The gang decided to look for work somewhere where fewer questions would be asked: the big board at the Commons of Knowledge. The daemon with whom they spoke sent them off to the south to reclaim the country villa of a citizen who had been evicted by brigands. The party was soon on their way and found the place, as described, atop a hill about a half mile off the road. Calliope made a long, slow circuit around the grounds, finding a number of crashed, empty wagons, complete with the drivers’ corpses.
One of the wagons was home to a small, weird black creature that was rooting around beneath it. Calliope tried to coax it out, but when it made a lunge for her hand, she changed tactics to attack and it ran off, vanishing into thin air. Beneath the cart she found a sack of gold along with tax receipts. When she presented this finding to the rest of the group – who, while patiently waiting, had offed one of the returning bandits – there was some suggestion that they’d made more finding the bag of gold than they would by finishing the job, and that they should just go home. Tilton was the lone dissenter, noting that the gold was not theirs to keep, but was the property of his patron, Olixitus of the Abacus who, after all, had even pointed them to the wagons in a vision.
The party was not impressed, and some began to reach for their weapons…